England dominated the Poles and laid a lengthy siege to their goalmouth but were consistently denied by the heroics of goalkeeper Jan Tomaszewski - famously called `a clown' by Brian Clough after spectacular stops with his back turned. Allan Clarke eventually scored with a penalty after England had failed to get past Tomaszewski in 21 attempts, but the draw was not enough.

Ramsey, whose watch had stopped during the match, delaying him bringing on striker Kevin Hector, was sacked as a result of a bitter defeat. He said: "I lost track of time but I suppose we were fated not to win the match."

England also missed the 1978 finals in Argentina after beating Italy 2-0 in their final game in 1977 but missing out on goal difference. Public expectation had been dampened by the untimely departure of manager Don Revie to the Middle East and his replacement, Ron Greenwood, could have done little more.

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An impressive defensive display at the Stadio Olympico in Rome in 1997 saw England graft out a goalless draw which secured qualification for France 98 under the guidance of Glenn Hoddle.

Two years later, under the tactically wayward passion of Kevin Keegan, England even managed to win a two-leg play-off against Scotland to qualify for Euro 2000, courtesy of two Paul Scholes strikes in the first leg.

England first qualified for the World Cup in 1950 by beating Scotland 1-0 at Hampden Park in front of 133,000 spectators.

Other notable last-game qualifiers include the 1-0 home win against Hungary in 1981, when Paul Mariner's goal cemented qualification for Euro 82 in France, and the goalless away draw against Poland which saw Bobby Robson's side through to Italia 90.

At present Antonis Nikopolidis, the Greek goalkeeper, is no more a household name than Tomaszewski was in '73. All England fans will hope it stays that way.